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Damon Arnette's career with the Las Vegas Raiders was nothing short of a disappointment, with the second-year cornerback released on Monday following the release of a video on his Instagram account where he's holding a gun and threatening to kill someone.
Arnette, who has not played since Week 4 after being put into injured reserve, is facing lawsuits stemming from a Las Vegas car accident last month. His NFL career is full of such small off-field incidents: he crashed rental cars four times within a month in his rookie season, for example. The Raiders tried to help him, but felt that threatening people with guns was a step too far.
Arnette had off-field issues since college
Mike Mayock acknowledged his failure with Arnette, stating during a conference call that the cornerback, who played for the Ohio State Buckeyes, had significant character concerns back in college.
"There have been a series of bad decisions over the last year or so, but we can't stand, we cannot stand for the video of Damon with a gun, threatening to take a life. The content was unacceptable, contrary to our values and our owner Mark Davis has been very clear and very consistent that this is not how we will conduct ourselves in this community. The bottom line is that the Raiders will not tolerate this type of behavior. [Drafting him] We thought it was an acceptable risk after doing more homework on Arnette than anybody we've done in the years I've been here. And obviously, we missed, and that is 100% on me."
To see Mayock publicly speaking about the character concerns of a first-round prospect is confusing, but understandable. Clearly he felt they had done enough research on Arnette and trusted him to leave his problems behind, which he failed to do.
Notably, both 2020 first-round picks from the Raiders have been cut in the space of a week. Henry Ruggs was released on Tuesday following a car accident that left a woman dead. Ruggs had twice the legal-limit of alcohol in his blood and was driving at 156 mph.
Damon Arnette college stats
Arnette was a three-year starter at Ohio State, even though he played in 11 games as a reserve back in his freshman season. He was a solid corner, but taking him in the first round was a massive reach from the Raiders in 2020.
Arnette played 47 games during his collegiate career, grabbing five interceptions, two forced fumbles and 22 passes defended. It was his first and the only career touchdown in his senior year when he grabbed a 97-yard pick-six against Indiana.
In 2019, Arnette was named Second Team All-Big Ten. With him on the roster, the Buckeyes appeared in two College Football Playoff editions — in 2016 and 2019 — but failed to become national champions both times.
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